January 29, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Much of the American Midwest is experiencing a deep freeze that will bring with it the lowest temperatures seen in a generation. Arctic air and icy conditions led schools to close, flights to be canceled and railway officials to set fires on train tracks to prevent them from cracking. Judy Woodruff reports on the polar vortex.

In our news wrap Tuesday, Roger Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to President Trump, pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering. He was indicted as part of the special counsel’s Russia investigation. Also, the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a planned vote on the nomination of William Barr to be U.S. attorney general, amid Democratic concerns.

Top U.S. intelligence officials presented their annual threat assessment to Congress Tuesday. The discussion covered the likelihood of North Korean denuclearization, the terror threat posed by ISIS despite its territorial losses, Iran's compliance with a nuclear deal and U.S. election security. Nick Schifrin talks to Judy Woodruff about how the analysis diverged from administration rhetoric.

Another contentious debate over Brexit concluded in Parliament Tuesday with an agreement to send British Prime Minister Theresa May back to the European Union to renegotiate terms of the UK's withdrawal. The plan May proposed earlier this month was decisively defeated, and the deadline for Brexit is now only two months away. Judy Woodruff talks to special correspondent Ryan Chilcote, in London.

Lawmakers have three weeks to come up with a long-term deal on border security, or potentially be faced with a second government shutdown or the president's declaring a national emergency. Judy Woodruff talks to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, about why she’s “very optimistic” that Congress can come up with a plan the president will sign and mechanisms for preventing future government shutdowns.

Supporting children with special needs can introduce additional worries and demands on any family. For military families, that stress is compounded by a lifestyle involving repeated moves and varying levels of services and capabilities within schools. Special correspondent Kavitha Cardoza reports from Virginia Beach, Virginia, with one family's story of struggling to find support in school.

Forty years ago, Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing protection from discrimination on the basis of sex -- but it has never been ratified as a constitutional amendment. Now a campaign to ratify the ERA is gathering momentum, in part because of fallout from the #MeToo movement of the past two years. Amna Nawaz talks to Kate Kelly of Equality Now.

The past month saw a political climate of extreme division in Washington, D.C., over the partial government shutdown. But some leaders at the state and local levels are striving for improved bipartisanship and compromise. On Monday, Judy Woodruff sat down with three governors trying to work across party lines: Larry Hogan, R-Md., Chris Sununu, R-N.H. and Tom Wolf, D-Pa.